FLOWER POWER

Get to know the summer version of work wear: gardening style

- Nick Sullivan

Watering can ($198) by Haws England; trowel ($48) by Red Pig Tools; trug ($38, set of two) by Albero Forte: pruning shears ($37) by Otter Messer. All available at Gardenheir.

WHEN THE CHORE JACKET SHUFFLED INTO THE STYLE SPOT-light somewhere in the late 2000s, it offered men the ideal way to feel sufficiently dressed without wearing a blazer. The tipping point was the 2010 documentary Bill Cunningham New York, about the then-80-year-old New York street-style photographer, who went everywhere in his trademark French worker’s jacket. Whether your inspiration was military grunts, Japanese factory workers, or, like Cunningham, French mechanics, those three-or four-pocket pieces had a no-nonsense vibe and a functional appeal that led to widespread adoption by normal guys and fashion aficionados alike.

Perhaps it’s a sign of the times, but 15 years later a little escapism has crept into the chore jacket. Instead of the reek of engine oil and cordite, the fragrance of choice is English roses and jasmine, with a side order of compost and mulch. It’s still work wear, of course, but the work has moved into the garden, where guys are connecting with nature and taking their style cues from elder statesmen of horticulture.